Team India skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that the batting unit was found wanting against England in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 match on Sunday, October 29 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. India managed only 229 runs on the batting first. However, a spirited bowling performance led them to their sixth consecutive win of the tournament.
Rohit Sharma won the Player of the Match award for his brilliant knock of 87 runs off 101 deliveries. Suryakumar Yadav also played a crucial knock, along with the lower order. However, the rest of the batting unit struggled to get going. Talking about the batting performance, Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation,
“We were not great with the bat. Losing three wickets in the first powerplay isn’t the ideal situation. You have to create a long partnership, which we did. But then we just lost wickets, including mine. Looking at the overall picture, I thought we were 30 runs short.”
“After the first 10 overs, it was important to stitch a partnership. You have to play the situation as well and not just play your shots. If you have that experience, you should use it. But I still thought we were 20-30 runs short. The new ball was a bit challenging and as the game went on, the ball got softer and it was not easy to rotate the strike,” he further said.
Rohit Sharma lauds India’s bowling effort
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma was all praise for the bowling unit, who led India to a 100-run win against England in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. India bowled England out for a paltry 129 runs. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah took a three-wicket haul, while Mohammed Shami took four wickets. Speaking at the post-match presentation, he said,
“You don’t see that every day when you are defending such a total. Our seamers exploited the conditions very well, there was swing and lateral movement available (on the pitch).”
“We have got a good balance there. A couple of good spinners and seamers bring in their experience. When you have a bowling line-up like that, the batters must give them something to work with, and show their magic,” he added.
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